Greenfields Farmhouse

Greenfields Farmhouse is likely of mid-16th century origin, with significant alterations in the later 16th and 17th centuries. The lower section of the house was rebuilt around 1950. The farmhouse is constructed from colour-washed local stone and flint rubble, with some cob in the rear wall. Stacks are of stone rubble topped with 20th-century brick, and the roof is covered in interlocking tiles, previously thatched.

The original layout was a three-room-and-through-passage plan, built down a hillslope and facing south. A projecting gable-end stack was added around 1950 to the western end, which is now the kitchen. A central axial stack backs onto the site of the former passage, and the eastern room was rebuilt around 1950, replacing the former passage and service room. The roof space is inaccessible, hindering further structural analysis. It’s believed the house originated as an open hall house, possibly heated by an open hearth. A stack was likely inserted in the mid to late 16th century, with evidence suggesting a passage chamber jettied into the lower end of the hall and flush with the front of the stack. The inner room was likely floored around this time, and the hall was floored in the 17th century. A half beam in the inner room indicates it was once smaller, enlarged to its current size in the 19th century. This room was probably a dairy or buttery.

The farmhouse is now two storeys high. The front elevation has an irregular three-window arrangement of modern casements, mostly without glazing bars. The roof is gable-ended and steps down from the former hall to the rebuilt lower section. The former passage doorway has been blocked, and entrances are now located in the rear wall.

Inside the present kitchen, the half beam is now a central crossbeam with a plain deep chamfer. The crosswall between the inner room is constructed of large oak framing and includes a Tudor arch doorway. The hall fireplace features Beerstone ashlar, an oak lintel, and a chamfered surround, partially bricked in. A side-pegged jointed cruck is exposed over the hall.